Publications

Cumbria’s Industrial Past featuring photos from the Mike Davies-Shiel collection with text by members of the Cumbria Industrial History Society. Details here.

The Mike Davies-Shiel Collection. A CD containing PDF copies of Mike’s fascinating handouts, special Xmas cards, and his Lakeland Industrial Archaeology Newsletters (1969-71) is available from the editor as below for £5.00 including p&p.

Master Of Them All : Iron Making in Cumbria (2007). Proceedings of a joint conference of the Society and the Historical Metallurgy Society. 135 pages. Contents : Iron ore in Cumbria ; Archaeological investigation at Cunsey Forge ; The bloomsmithies of South Westmorland and North Lancashire ; Wilson House, Lindale – John Wilkinson’s peat fuelled blast furnace ; Hodbarrow mine ; Millom – the end game ; Backbarrow Furnace and its history. Copies available from the editor as below for £9 including postage.

The Cumbrian Industrialist : A series of occasional papers
Copies should be available for reference at Kendal, Carlisle and Penrith libraries, and at the county record offices. All except volume one can be purchased from the editor at solwaypast@yahoo.com at £5.00 per volume including p&p. Volume one is out of print, but the editor can offer a photocopying service.
Summary of ContentsVolume Ten (2018) : The diaries of John Hall Thompson of Little Salkeld Paper Mill
Volume Nine (2017) : Gasworks of Cumbria Part 3 – the independents; Ulverston built merchant schooners; The 1870 steam ferry at Windermere; The Barrow (in Furness) potteryVolume Eight (2013) : Keswick’s water-powered mills and manufactories; The wool-fulling and flax-fulling mills of Cumbria
Volume Seven (2010) : Reel Fitz Pit Engine ; The right to compensation for industrial diseases ; Gazetteer of Carlisle and District cotton and woollen textile mill sites ; Gasworks in Cumbria – the later years
Volume Six (2006) : Charles Parker : An Eighteenth-Century Cumbrian Industrialist ; Warehouses in Ulverston : A brief survey ; The Carlisle Cotton Industry : An outlier of Lancashire Textiles? ; Gasworks in Cumbria : The early years.
Volume Five (2005) : Whose responsibility? Industrial accidents in 18th century Cumberland ; Blacklead mine in Borrowdale ; A survey of industrial archaeological remains in upper Geltsdale ; The early iron industry in Furness : a revolution in the 18th century.
Volume Four (2002) : How to burn lime? ; Heavy transport in Cumbria before 1800 : Methods, problems and costs ; Field drainage techniques and their development in Cumbria.
Volume Three (2000) : Bucks of Carlisle – A garment factory and weaving establishment. A study in survival 1918-1939 : W.W.Hodgson and the Outgate Pop Factory ; Harbour-scouring schemes in West Cumbria 1680-1760 ; Cumbrian brick and tile works : North Cumbria.
Volume Two (1999) : Attempts to smelt metal with coal near Whitehaven before 1700 : Early union activity, industrial injuries and the Poor Law. The case of Joseph Raven ; Lime burning on Kendal Fell ; Two engineering firms in a small county town : A case study of what engineers did and how they fared.
Volume One (1998) : Matthew Murray’s Pumping Engine for Isabella Pit, Workington, 1803-1813 ; Reake Wood Tile Kiln ; First Definitive List of Cumbrian Sites of Iron Mines and Smelt Sites, January 1997 ; William Brownrigg, M.D., F.R.S., Physician and Natural Philosopher

The Bulletin : distributed in April, August and December
Contents include news items, book reviews, reports on meetings and short articles, some of which also appear on this website. Copies should be available for reference at Kendal, Carlisle and Penrith libraries, and at the county record offices.
A CD containing PDF copies of over 35 articles from early editions of the CIHS Bulletin is available for £5.00 including p&p. Please contact the editor at solwaypast@yahoo.com.